JM

I learned that mission statements are to be guided by the vision of your company. I found the the reasons of making a mission statement very interesting. What are some types of objectives that we as future business people should look for? I learned that Hershey has a lot more competition. I also learned that some brands of chocolate like Dove are actually a small part of the Big companies like Mars and Nestle. I found that the SWOT analysis is just like we did it even for big companies. I bet Microsoft does the smae thing for their business. One question I still have about the Hershey company is what are some other opportunities that you have that we don't know?
 * Week of August 15, 2011- mission/vision statements**
 * Week 2: Strategic Planning **

I learned this week that companies do put in a lot of thought and work in trying to find many ways to interact and draw in new and recent customers. I found interesting that some campanies like Sony make X-box and other products associated with that product. Also, i found intersting that they made this product called the Microsoft Surface which is a really unique and out of the blue product. I really only have one question and that is What is the Hershey Company going to make as there surprise or out of the blue product like Microsoft's Microsoft Surface?

Something that I learned and found really intersting is that the Hershey Company just make a consumer trends office. That kind of makes me think that the Hershey Company must be a really good business if they didn't need a consumer trends office. Another thing that I found intersting and learned was some of the trends Mr. Strande showed in class on the top 20 trends where very unique. I think some of those people need a reality check on what is truely trendy.
 * Week 6 - Consumer Trends **

I learned in class this week about a whole new subject of business called ethnography. We made this Powerpoint slide that talked about a paper we read and made main ideas for each paragraph which gave me the perspective of using ethnographic research and ideas. Ethnography took me a while to learn how to pronounce but besides that it means is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group. Some things I found interesting this week where the snacks that Andy and Michael brought in because they aren't like traditional snacks you would see in super markets or grocery stores like Giant or Karns.
 * Week of October 3, 2011 (Week 7 - Market Research) **

I learned this week that probably the biggest step for any business is to go worldwide/international. For instance, I learned that Hershey went to Mexico a couple years ago and they have been pretty successful with their creations of new products they had to figure out whether the Mexicans would like. Something I found really interesting is that Hershey is testing some of its products for other countries here in America. That makes you wonder what products have I tried that they sell in Mexico or Canada. I also learned what a velocity of a product is. It is the amount of units a business can sell that product. In a way its like a ranking.
 * Week of October 10, 2011 (Week 8- Market Analysis) **

Something that I thought was really improtant that I learned last week was that businesses have to find ways to compete with others companies to make the field of business competitive. For instance, Hershey went to try to go against Jell-O and that didn't really end up to well. The risk can be rewarding or a little hurtful. Something that I found interesting about last week was the types of Hershey Bar creations that some of the groups thought of. My group personally had a unique idea and honestly it might work, but the looks of the products are a little strange.
 * Week of October 17, 2011 (Week 9- Product Development) **

I found interesting that the taste testers were primarily girls and that they all had to go through six months of training to get the job. They all had to have specific characteristics with their sense of smell and their taste buds along with their tongue. Something that I learned is that during the trial production station of the product there are state and federal qualifications/standards the taste and certain chemicals/products go through to be put into the new product.
 * Week of October 24, 2011 (Week 10- Trial Production) **

I learned in class that brands are more than just a logo, tune, or saying a company has, but it is more of a connection between the customer and the company/product. It helps the customer be happy and give good feedback to other people which then creates a chain of customers to the company. Something I found really interesting about Branding is that it is a really long process of manipulation. It manipulates the minds of the customers into buying the product just through a popularity vote.
 * Week of October 31, 2011 (Week 11- Branding) **

This week for the topic of Special Events I learned about differnet ways that companies tried to put their selves out there. An example is that in, I believe 1997, Hershey made the nowadays famous Kiss Mobile and went across through like 100 cities to advertise and have fun with kids. Somethign I found really interesting about speical events is that some companies try having the best event and actually invent something new just to get like another handful of loyal customers. Also, that for the company, the events are more of a marketing scheme instead of a fun together.
 * Week of November 28, 2011 (Week 14- Special Events) **

This week we made this breaking news report on any recall and my group happened to do Toll House chocolate chip cookies. We used a program called Audacity with is a program that records your voice. Something I learned this week would probably have to be that the process to finding a mistake in distibuting and trying to recall all the inventory that was shipped to catch the illness in the product is very confusing.
 * Week of December 5, 2011 (Week 15- Product Safety) **

I did not go on the trip yesterday due to a swimming meet. So then the question for me is how do product components affect the business.? One way that the components affect the business is probably by the way the component fluctuates in price and where/who the business gets their component. For example, Hershey may need cocoa, but if the supply is getting low then the Cocoa Bean Co.'s will charge more per bean, but their may be another company that sells the same compnoent and sells it for cheaper.
 * Week of December 12, 2011 (Week 16- Product Components) **

**Week of January 6, 2012 (Week 17- Product Components)** This week I learned how packaging is just another to improve sales for comapnies. Just like placing the product on the shelves, packaging is a sales fluctuator. What we did in class last week was go over the possible ways that packaging improves sale, creates an initial reaction with the customer. For example, most customers are willing to spend $300 for a bottle of perfume that doesn't really smell that good but has a really great packaging display, but for the normal box container that holds a good smelling $25 bottle they won't buy because of the packaging.

This week the class made the slides, but we split into six groups that had one slide each. My slide with my group involved a certain section of this passage we had to read then summarize. In essesence this week was a very vague thing compared to most but it involved learning more about how the prodcut comes into play with the business. Product Planning is the backbone to the product idea.
 * Week of January 13, 2012 (Week 18- Product Planning) **

I had an away swimming meet at James Buchanan so I was not able to go to the Reese's factory Thursday. Some questions I have about this week are the main steps in creating some Reese's products? some pbjectives we have done this past week was work on a little presentation of a product of choice and find some facts about the product. My group chose the slinky toy. It turns out it was invented on accident.
 * Week of January 16, 2012 (Week 19 - Production) **

Since I wasn't able to attend once again some comments or questions that I have based on the gossip my fellow students had are how big exactly is the dominant warehouse Hershey has. I have been in one of the warehouses before from a trip with just the senior class earlier in the year or near the end of last year. That was a good experience because it showed me that the workers had to be efficient and on top of things.
 * Week of January 23, 2012 (Week 20- Warehousing) **


 * Week of January 30, 2012 (Week 20- Order Management) **

** ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM **

STEP 1: HOW ORDERS ARE TAKEN


 * The way or system used to take the order form the customer and the way they record the order.
 * Plan out how much and price, order the items, record your purchase, check inventory.

STEP 2: ORDER ENTRY


 * Orders through a message system which is over the web with a program called EMI.

STEP 3: MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION


 * A price check or special requirements that cause the order to be held up. Customer service is responsible for taking care of orders with flagged items.

STEP 4: ATP


 * Funny acronym for ATP is Available Truck Place which helps me remember that is has to do with how you will ship your products the most efficiently.

STEP 5: TRANSPORTATION


 * Looking into how long or the length of trip in miles of the transportation. Planning is a key step into being efficient in the distribution.

** Week 22 Assessment Learning Log Post **


 * All three of the discussions are all related into one big cycle. It all starts by Order Management, so a theme for that could be “On your mark!” First, the order is taken by the customer(s) then the Distribution comes into place. That could have a theme of “Get Set!” From the distribution it has to go somewhere and that place in the warehousing/wholesaler. A theme for that is the “GO!” In a real life simulation Walgreens, Kroger, Target, and Wal-Mart makes a purchase of Hershey candy to put in their stands then purchasers finds a distributor or uses their own trucks or means of transportation. Once the product makes its way into the trucks or their means of transportation is then taken to the warehouse.**

Week 23 There are many differences between advertising and PR. Some think that they are the same, but it is because PR ties into advertising sometimes. PR usually gets people that are creditable and reliable and use them in their message that they want the fans, targeted audience, or consumers to know. In a way they are the people behind the scenes. They are the brains of the team. Of course they have some PR people who are also the deliverers of the message. I like advertising more just because it seems cooler if you have this finished idea of a way to spark up your product or service than just a message your trying to get across.

Week 24
 * Advertising sounds really fun. For me though, it doesn't seem like such a good idea. I am not the most creative type or hands-on thinker. My good ideas usually come about 1-2 hrs after my 30 second thought-up bad ideas. I am not efficient enough to be involved in advertising. I would like it, but it isn't the best job/career for me.**

Week 25 - Product Placement This past week has been very fun and has taught me a lot about the science behind product placement. One thing I learned this week was that not many people at all even think about buying candy when they go grocery shopping. It amazes me because on a survey the Kiss brand was marked number 1, the Reese's was marked number 3, and the Hershey's brand was marked number 6. That is a huge accomplishment. I honestly think that in the next 3-5 years they will be top 3.